DiNapoli: North Country sales-tax collections rise after rate increases

Local sales-tax collections in the North Country increased 7.7 percent in 2014, topping all New York state regions in growth in 2014.

Overall, local sales-tax collections in the Empire State in 2014 posted the slowest annual growth since the end of the 2008-09 recession.

That’s according to a report that State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued on Tuesday.

Increases in sales-tax rates in three counties in the North Country drove the growth in sales-tax collections in that region, DiNapoli’s office said.

Essex and Lewis counties increased their tax rates from 3.75 percent to 4 percent, while St. Lawrence County raised its rate from 3 percent to 4 percent.

Overall, sales-tax collections statewide increased $439 million, or 3 percent, from 2013 to 2014. In 2013, the growth rate was 5.2 percent.

New York’s 15-year annual average growth in sales-tax collections is 4.2 percent, DiNapoli’s office said in a Tuesday news release about the report.

Municipalities statewide know “all too well the volatile nature” of sales-tax revenue in “uncertain” economic times, DiNapoli said in the release.

“When our local governments have slower-than-expected revenue growth, the results can have a serious impact on their budgets now and in the future. As the 2015 fiscal year unfolds, I recommend local leaders continue their vigilance in monitoring their revenues and spending and be ready to tighten their belts should this slowdown continue,” DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli’s report found New York City generated nearly 70 percent of the total growth in local sales-tax collections last year.

The city’s sales-tax collections increased $304 million, or 4.8 percent, in 2014, compared to 6.8 percent growth in 2013.

Meanwhile, the increase in county sales-tax collections, excluding all cities, was 1.3 percent from 2013 to 2014, a figure that is “significantly” lower than the 3.8 percent growth in 2013 compared to 2012, DiNapoli’s office said.

Besides the North Country, other regions generated “modest” growth.

The Southern Tier’s collections were up 3 percent, as were those in the Mid-Hudson Valley, while the Capital Region’s collections rose 3.5 percent, the report found.

The tax-collection growth rates in other regions, such as Central New York (2.6 percent), the Mohawk Valley (2.1), Western New York (1.9) and the Finger Lakes (0.9), were below the statewide average.